Hobbyist, not pro, which might help explain it... Have found that the models that i have made, that i most enjoy, are very heavy poly wise. Mainly because i rely on having details modeled in. Teyon has wisely suggested relying more on texture/bump mapping, but the results are not exactly the same. Curious how others feel on the subject - modeling in details & living with the poly count, or minimal detail necesary with texture/bump to compensate...

hey hewsan, i'm sure its possible to have a very realistic and detailed model with a very low polycount. i tried to model a hand 3 days ago and i ended up with a 1200 polys and a not so good hand. but saw a hand (i have the model if u want it) for download that is extremely realist and it has only 351 polys... i guess that maybe someday with a lot of training and, i hope, talent, i'll be able to achieve such level.... peace.

Hewsan, I'm like you, I want to model a lot of detail in. Now, depending on your requirements, low poly models (using textures and such) are required mostly professionally. Game design for instance. The problem you run into with low poly high textures is movement. I'm sure you've played at least a game or two. Half Life for instance. As you pan around characters if you really watch them, you see how low the poly count is due to all the 'blocky' looks on everything. Now as computers get faster, engines able to handle more, etc., you'll see them slowly getting more complex. Game Developer this month has a nice article on using SubDivided Surfaces within games. If the engine can keep it to the control mesh and work with on the fly subdivision, it should be able to allow highly complex models without killing peoples systems. But if you've exacted the final mesh from a Smoothed object, you know the "poly" count can be very high. But if you want a very detailed model, which looks great in animations, quick camera moves and all that, the poly count will reflect it. As a hobbyist, I too go for higher poly counts. Also, since my own Animation needs are limited it does allow me to go beyond what I system can handle a lot, as Im only after the final render of a single frame.

The doctor says I have way too much blood in my caffeine system.

I think that it comes down to this teyon makes a good point about letting your texture maps do the work especially if it is for distance shots most studios have multiple models of the smae model one for long shots one for action and one for the up close detail shots on the up close detail shots if you have veins etc probally good idea to meodel them in and keep the poly count alot higher but if its a distance shot then let the maps do the work as no one will likely notice action shots even more so cause it will be moving quickly and detail is your smallest concern this will also round out your skills I think one thing to watch for though is poly plcement you can strech a few polys along way across smooth surfaces like the back top of the head chest etc dont get these to high cause there isnt a reason too if you take a look at the character im building in the lw gallery now the head chest and back are about 2100 polys at the moment

i my opinion, i'd say there is no way to say wich is the best,, meaning ,, it depends on what you are trying to achive,, i dont go about doing a box with 100 polys when i actually just need 6 to complete that task,, but if i want to add some nice detail to it, more polys will be added,, my point being,, i balance the number or poyls to what i want to achive and how i want to look in the end ,, and textures/bump maps as Teyon said are also an important part of the final look of your model,, and a good texture can make your models alot better for sure ,, so in conclusion ,, i'd say,, a good balance of polys and textures/bump maps can make your model look really good :-) just my 2 cents

//Benny.

Travis and Beyond Myth are right. Personally, I like to add the details in my nurbs and then convert to the lowest number of polys that will allow me to keep the majority of the modled detail. This is the one drawback and bonus to nurbs...you can convert your nurb object to however dense a poly you want BUT you have no control over where those polys are placed. I think Travis forgot that. :) Sub-Division Surfaces allows you to place details only where you need them, thus resulting in a lower poly model with maximum detail. We (meaning Rhino users) don't have that choice, we have no control over where the polys are placed really. That's why it's important that our nurb model be as clean as possible, so that when we convert to poly the detail isn't lost as much and the poly count remains as low as possible. In the end, it depends on what the model is being used for. As Travis pointed out, in animation, you need as light a model as you can get which means all the work is done with textures. If you're making a still image, however, there's nothing wrong with a highly detailed model. Especially if it's the center of attention for the image. If you're making models for Poser then you are maki ng models for animation and must keep your poly count as low as you can...this means ddamn good texture/bump work will be needed for all those details you can't modle into it but still want.